3 night Valor Review with Funtimes

We just got back from our cruise on the Valor- 3 nights to Nassau.

Here are few thoughts and I'm happy to answer questions.

Ship-

Overall, the ship was in great condition and very clean. It also seemed to have a lot of room. I never felt that it was overcrowded and didn't have any trouble finding lounge chairs. Elevators weren't an issue we used them a few times and it never seemed like there was a long wait or that they were overcrowded.

Our stateroom was great. Plenty of storage space. Great amount of closet space and lots of shelf space in the bathroom. We brought a over the door organizer so we would have extra space, but didn't need it. We had an aft room on level 6. I had read previous posts that it was warm in the room and that was a concern we had before we left, but our room was plenty cool and my husband likes to keep it cold.

Food-

The food was pretty bad.

My husband did enjoy the Guys Burgers and I enjoyed the burrito place but that is about it.

The main dining room food was OK, we weren't wow'd by anything and my chocolate melting cake was pretty much chocolate soup under a thin top layer of cake. Our wait staff was fantastic.

The Lido buffet was OK. Never really impressed with anything but for the most part things were edible. I was surprised that the choices seemed very limited. We ate at the buffet on our port day and the only protein on the buffet was fish. Seems like an odd choice. My husband stated that he didn't see beef at any point on the buffet, but I didn't notice as I ate salad or a burrito for lunches.

Activities & Entertainment-

We attended some of the trivia sessions and bingo sessions- they were fun, but I have to say that things didn't seem very organized it appeared that staff were still getting used to their roles.

Both comedians were good and we enjoyed those shows.

The Piano Bar was a good time and I was really impressed with the entertainer. He interacted with the crowd and was great about requests that weren't in his catalog.

The movies on deck were lots of fun and quite relaxing!

Excursion-

We had issues with the Tropical ATV Excursion, lack of organization and it was not accurately described on Carnivals website. This is way more intense than we anticipated when we booked. Will include more information on this in another post.

Shopping-

I was disappointed they didn't have one of the 10 dollars stores on the ship, but they did have the rest of the shops that you would normally find on a ship. They did have one day that they had a "sidewalk sale" of $10 items.

Overall we had a good time and enjoyed ourselves. We've sailed on Inspiration in 2007 and 2009 and were very pleased with everything on those cruises. This cruise on Valor was disappointing and we will probably try RCL next time. Our goal was to enjoy time together and have fun and that we did. My advice for any cruiser is to manage your expectations- don't let little things like disorganization or underwhelming food spoil your fun.

fun times 3day.pdf

That's a fair review ,thanks for posting .

Thank you for posting! My hubby and I will be on the Valor for the 12/1 3 night to celebrate my 45th and our 1st cruise since before our first child was born in 2008! We have done over 20 cruises, but all pre-kiddos. Reading some of the reviews have been sort of disheartening. But, I agree...we are going to enjoy each other and have some fun. Unmet expectations can be the mother of all disappointment! LOL :):)

what was your cabin #? We sail on Valor in cabin #6485 in 19 days and would love feedback on that cabin or those close to it

Thank you for posting! My hubby and I will be on the Valor for the 12/1 3 night to celebrate my 45th and our 1st cruise since before our first child was born in 2008! We have done over 20 cruises, but all pre-kiddos. Reading some of the reviews have been sort of disheartening. But, I agree...we are going to enjoy each other and have some fun. Unmet expectations can be the mother of all disappointment! LOL :):)

This was our first cruise since having kids too!

The benefit to having disappointing food was that neither of use gained any weight while we were gone!

what was your cabin #? We sail on Valor in cabin #6485 in 19 days and would love feedback on that cabin or those close to it

We were in 6489. The cabin was wonderful- absolutely no complaints!

Cabin door stays open on it's own- I've seen people posting about packing a bungee but no need for that.

I could smell a slight odor in the bathroom when we got there, but we kept the toilet lid closed and brought one of those Christmas tree shaped car scents and didn't notice it again.

A couple of things we brought that were helpful was a power strip. I only saw one outlet on the vanity. and a battery operated candle to have some light for a mid night bathroom trip and it set a nice glow to the room.

One hint...the hair dryer is located in this thin drawer in the vanity area. I went to dinner with wet hair one night because I looked around the bathroom, in the closets and even in the bigger drawers and didn't find it. Realized it was in that little drawer when were packing up and checking to make sure we had gotten everything.

Thank you so much for posting this review! I sail on Thursday on the Valor and I'm so so so ready for it to get here!

We were in 6489. The cabin was wonderful- absolutely no complaints!

 

Cabin door stays open on it's own- I've seen people posting about packing a bungee but no need for that.

 

I could smell a slight odor in the bathroom when we got there, but we kept the toilet lid closed and brought one of those Christmas tree shaped car scents and didn't notice it again.

 

A couple of things we brought that were helpful was a power strip. I only saw one outlet on the vanity. and a battery operated candle to have some light for a mid night bathroom trip and it set a nice glow to the room.

 

One hint...the hair dryer is located in this thin drawer in the vanity area. I went to dinner with wet hair one night because I looked around the bathroom, in the closets and even in the bigger drawers and didn't find it. Realized it was in that little drawer when were packing up and checking to make sure we had gotten everything.

Great! Thanks for the info!

Thanks for the review.

Thanks for the review and thanks so much for posting the Fun Times. I've been looking for it!

Thanks for posting. Question did you try the fish and chips dining? I have heard a few say that the food was not up to par on this ship, I will be on this ship on Dec. 4 with my sisters and sure hope they get some things worked out. I have sailed numerous times on many of Carnival's ships and have never been disappointed in the Dining room food, the buffet yes.

Thanks for the report.

Thank you for posting! My hubby and I will be on the Valor for the 12/1 3 night to celebrate my 45th and our 1st cruise since before our first child was born in 2008! We have done over 20 cruises, but all pre-kiddos. Reading some of the reviews have been sort of disheartening. But, I agree...we are going to enjoy each other and have some fun. Unmet expectations can be the mother of all disappointment! LOL :):)

Happy almost your birthday! We'll be there too only my birthday isn't actually until the week after the cruise. But this is the date that worked for us so we'll just extend my birthdaying for a week or two. (not like I don't do that every year anyway. :D )

OP, thanks for the review and the Fun Times too. I hope they keep some of those movies for December.

Thank you for your post. We leave Thanksgiving day. It's our first cruise. I am excited, but nervous!!!

We just got back from our cruise on the Valor- 3 nights to Nassau.

 

Here are few thoughts and I'm happy to answer questions.

 

Ship-

Overall, the ship was in great condition and very clean. It also seemed to have a lot of room. I never felt that it was overcrowded and didn't have any trouble finding lounge chairs. Elevators weren't an issue we used them a few times and it never seemed like there was a long wait or that they were overcrowded.

Our stateroom was great. Plenty of storage space. Great amount of closet space and lots of shelf space in the bathroom. We brought a over the door organizer so we would have extra space, but didn't need it. We had an aft room on level 6. I had read previous posts that it was warm in the room and that was a concern we had before we left, but our room was plenty cool and my husband likes to keep it cold.

 

Food-

The food was pretty bad.

My husband did enjoy the Guys Burgers and I enjoyed the burrito place but that is about it.

The main dining room food was OK, we weren't wow'd by anything and my chocolate melting cake was pretty much chocolate soup under a thin top layer of cake. Our wait staff was fantastic.

The Lido buffet was OK. Never really impressed with anything but for the most part things were edible. I was surprised that the choices seemed very limited. We ate at the buffet on our port day and the only protein on the buffet was fish. Seems like an odd choice. My husband stated that he didn't see beef at any point on the buffet, but I didn't notice as I ate salad or a burrito for lunches.

 

Activities & Entertainment-

We attended some of the trivia sessions and bingo sessions- they were fun, but I have to say that things didn't seem very organized it appeared that staff were still getting used to their roles.

Both comedians were good and we enjoyed those shows.

The Piano Bar was a good time and I was really impressed with the entertainer. He interacted with the crowd and was great about requests that weren't in his catalog.

The movies on deck were lots of fun and quite relaxing!

 

Excursion-

We had issues with the Tropical ATV Excursion, lack of organization and it was not accurately described on Carnivals website. This is way more intense than we anticipated when we booked. Will include more information on this in another post.

 

Shopping-

I was disappointed they didn't have one of the 10 dollars stores on the ship, but they did have the rest of the shops that you would normally find on a ship. They did have one day that they had a "sidewalk sale" of $10 items.

 

Overall we had a good time and enjoyed ourselves. We've sailed on Inspiration in 2007 and 2009 and were very pleased with everything on those cruises. This cruise on Valor was disappointing and we will probably try RCL next time. Our goal was to enjoy time together and have fun and that we did. My advice for any cruiser is to manage your expectations- don't let little things like disorganization or underwhelming food spoil your fun.

Happy almost your birthday! We'll be there too only my birthday isn't actually until the week after the cruise. But this is the date that worked for us so we'll just extend my birthdaying for a week or two. (not like I don't do that every year anyway. :D )

 

OP, thanks for the review and the Fun Times too. I hope they keep some of those movies for December.

Thanks! Same to you! Can't wait!

This was our first cruise since having kids too!

 

The benefit to having disappointing food was that neither of use gained any weight while we were gone!

HAHA! Love it. Always a bright side!

Thanks! Same to you! Can't wait!

If you're interested, here's a link to the roll call: Valor 12/01/2016 Roll Call

Thank you for your post. We leave Thanksgiving day. It's our first cruise. I am excited, but nervous!!!

We are on this cruise as well but this will be our 10th cruise!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Thanks for the review.

Thanks for posting. Question did you try the fish and chips dining? I have heard a few say that the food was not up to par on this ship, I will be on this ship on Dec. 4 with my sisters and sure hope they get some things worked out. I have sailed numerous times on many of Carnival's ships and have never been disappointed in the Dining room food, the buffet yes.

I was also on the 11/10 Carnival Valor sailing. Fish and Chips has been replaced with BBQ. Chicken, Pork and Beef with sides of potato salad, coleslaw, beans, mac n cheese and buns. I agree with OP, food was okay on the ship, pizza was tasteless. Overall, nice clean ship for a 3 day getaway though.

Just got off the Valor this morning. Was in cabin 1022. Clean ship friendly crew. Never felt crowded although space in the jacuzzis was hard to find. The lines for the buffet and other eating venues were never long. Longest I stood in was around 10 people ahead of me. The buffet food was underwhelming. The food was cooked just fine, just wasn't impressed. Guys burgers and fries venue was very good, even though the fries were limpy they still tasted good. The burrito venue was my favorite. Ate once in the dining room. Service was great food was ok. Tell them you want your baked potato fully cooked.

The 80's rock show was fun, although they should of just lip sync the songs.

Didn't bother leaving the ship in Freeport. Freeport took a hard hit from the hurricane and they are still recovering.

In Nassau we didn't bother with Carnivals excursions. We went ashore and found an independent tour guide. He assembled a group of 9 other cruisers and took us on a fun tour of Nassau. It cost 25 dollars per person. Had a great time on this 4 night cruise. This is my first cruise review so please be gentle.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I was on the same cruise. Everying was pretty good except for the dinner food. Mine came out cold all 3 nights and my prime rib was paper thin.

We were on the same cruise, cabin 1015, and I thought the MDR food was excellent, except for one dry chicken breast. Never bothered with Pizza Pirate, seemed like there were always long lines. I actually thought the American Table selections were much better than on the last couple of cruises we went on since the switch. I guess when it comes to food, it really is a matter of taste - different people enjoy different things.

Just got off the Valor this morning. Was in cabin 1022. Clean ship friendly crew. Never felt crowded although space in the jacuzzis was hard to find. The lines for the buffet and other eating venues were never long. Longest I stood in was around 10 people ahead of me. The buffet food was underwhelming. The food was cooked just fine, just wasn't impressed. Guys burgers and fries venue was very good, even though the fries were limpy they still tasted good. The burrito venue was my favorite. Ate once in the dining room. Service was great food was ok. Tell them you want your baked potato fully cooked.

The 80's rock show was fun, although they should of just lip sync the songs.

Didn't bother leaving the ship in Freeport. Freeport took a hard hit from the hurricane and they are still recovering.

In Nassau we didn't bother with Carnivals excursions. We went ashore and found an independent tour guide. He assembled a group of 9 other cruisers and took us on a fun tour of Nassau. It cost 25 dollars per person. Had a great time

on this 4 night cruise. This is my first cruise review so please be gentle.

 

 

We are leaving in a few days. We have room 1022.....how was it?

I was also on the 11/10 Carnival Valor sailing. Fish and Chips has been replaced with BBQ. Chicken, Pork and Beef with sides of potato salad, coleslaw, beans, mac n cheese and buns. I agree with OP, food was okay on the ship, pizza was tasteless. Overall, nice clean ship for a 3 day getaway though.

Was it the new BBQ that they are doing on the newer ships?